Kazakhstani high school students begin new course on business fundamentals

Sixteen schools throughout Kazakhstan in January have begun teaching a new subject for 10th-11th grade students. The course will eventually be taught nationwide.

By Alexander Bogatik

High school students absorb their first lesson on fundamentals of entrepreneurship January 3 in Public School No. 9 in Taraz. [National Chamber of Entrepreneurs]

ASTANA -- Sixteen schools throughout Kazakhstan in January have begun teaching a new subject for 10th-11th grade students -- the Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship and Business.

The first lesson on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship occurred Wednesday (January 3) for 10th-graders in Public School No. 9 in Taraz. Yerjan Rapilbayev, a history, law and economics teacher, introduced the new subject.

He spoke to students about the role of entrepreneurs in society and conducted a business game followed by an analysis of business projects proposed by the students.

"I intend to run a business in the future," 10th-grader Sayid Tafiyev said after the class. "I want to be an entrepreneur. I plan to open a dairy store and contribute to the development of our region's economy."

Yerjan Rapilbayev, a history, law and economics teacher, introduces the new course to 10th-graders at Public School No. 9 in Taraz January 3. [National Chamber of Entrepreneurs]

Encouraging entrepreneurship

The textbook for the Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship and Business class was the handiwork of specialists from the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, according to Akbota Batyrbekova, a spokeswoman for the chamber's office in Zhambyl Province.

"Methodologists, entrepreneurs, psychologists and teachers were involved in designing the textbook," she told Caravanserai.

The programme is designed "to encourage proactivity and entrepreneurship among youth and increase their confidence in their own abilities", said Timofey Proskurov, a Taraz sporting good store owner who was involved in development of the project.

The course will help high school students thoroughly understand what entrepreneurship is and what qualities a businessperson should have, said Proskurov.

The National Chamber of Entrepreneurs and local business leaders, who will become mentors and participate in the educational process, will play an important role in the programme, he added.

Development of the project began in 2014, and just four years later, for the 2018-2019 school year, the course will be introduced in all schools across the country, he said.

Believing in oneself

"Teaching young people the fundamentals of running a business is a worthy cause that will steer them away from radical and criminal ideas," Sanjar Suleimenov, a theologian from Zhambyl, told Caravanserai.

1 Comment(s)

You better start correcting the first-grade textbooks - you make elementary errors; it's terrible and disgraceful, why do you allow this? On top of that, you assign first-graders a poem to learn by heart by the next day. Poor kids